Project Summary: Pilot Project Component Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are among the top modifiable factors leading to premature death. Reducing this burden will depend on a combination of changes in regulatory policy, preventive strategies such as health education and SBIRT, and treatment strategies aimed at interrupting the development of hazardous drinking and addiction. There is a critical need to promote the development of new investigators in alcohol research, and in attracting established investigators from other fields, to further these goals. The Pilot Project Component identifies promising investigators and provides pilot funding, mentoring, and collaboration with established alcohol investigators, with a goal of helping them accrue preliminary data leading to success in obtaining larger grants. A secondary goal is to explore areas of long-range relevance to the themes of the IARC. The flexibility inherent in a pilot project allows investigators to respond rapidly to unique scientific opportunities as they arise, and in this cycle we have emphasized the value to the pilot investigators of connecting their work to the themes of the Center (through shared expertise, techniques, and sample use).